Upper-Crossed Syndrome

Whether we prefer to believe it or not, maintaining good posture can significantly contribute to our overall level of health. And when it comes to a serious condition called upper-crossed syndrome (UCS), it's clear that many of the most effective chiropractic treatments focus on posture.

For those who suffer from the condition, it's helpful to first understand what it is, how it got its name, what the most common causes are, how to know if you have it, how chiropractic physicians treat it, and the best way to prevent it. That's a lot of information to digest all at once. The separate sections below offer a detailed explanation of each piece of the puzzle.

UCS: The Basics

The concept of "crossed" muscles is unique to UCS because it involves several groups of tissue in the shoulders, near and in the neck, and in the chest area. When people don't stand up correctly and continue to exhibit inefficient posture for long periods of time, upper-crossed syndrome can develop.

Why the term "crossed"? Because of the several muscle groups in question, two are overly-stressed and two are unusually weak (or as a chiropractor might say, "inhibited").

Near the upper back and upper chest, one group is tight and the other weak. Likewise, in the mid-chest and mid-back areas, there is one weak and one strong group. The four groups, in all, form an "X," with weakened neck muscles in the upper left side of the X, tight levator scapulae and traps on the upper right point of the X, tight pecs, and SCM (sternocleidomastoid) on the lower left point, and, finally, weak serratus anterior, rhomboids, and lower traps on the lower right point of the X.

When this alternating series of weak and over-active, or tight, muscle groups occurs, the body is being pushed and pulled in an unnatural way, and the result is often a worsening of the UCS disorder.

The Most Common Causes of UCS

Unlike many medical conditions, the causes of upper-crossed syndrome are relatively clear. Meeting with a chiropractor for an initial exam is an effective way to find out whether you currently exhibit any of the primary causes of UCS. For instance, the following are often considered classic situations and conditions that can lead directly to the syndrome:

• Watching TV: It's not just too much TV watching that's the problem, but the way we often hold our heads while viewing the screen for hours at a time. Many people lurch their heads forward while sitting in an unsupported chair or on a sofa that is too low or too high.
  
• Riding a Bicycle: While bike-riding is an excellent form of exercise, it can take a toll on the body when riders lean too far forward and hang their heads downward for long periods.
  
• Computer of Phone Use: Sitting in an awkward position while using a computer keyboard, viewing a screen, or speaking on a phone can lead to UCS. In fact, one of the more detrimental things people do is to "hold" the phone between their necks and ears while speaking. Likewise, using a keyboard that is too high or low can place severe strain on the neck, back, and shoulders.
  
• Long-Term Poor Posture: Modern medical science considers improper, or inefficient posture to be the main cause of UCS. You can often assess your own posture just by looking into a mirror from two angles, one from the front and one from the side. Uneven shoulders and a forward lurch of the chin or head are often telltale signs of inefficient posture.
  
• Forward Head While Standing/Sitting: As noted above, one of the key signs of UCS is a "forward-leaning" head. Every day, you can see many people who walk, sit, and stand this way. It's perhaps the most common form of poor posture.
  
• Reading: People sit in all sorts of odd positions while reading, particularly when they prop their heads up with pillows in bed or on a couch. Often, the soft support is okay for a few minutes, but after a while pain develops.
  
• Driving: Car seats are major contributors to all kinds of neck, back, hip, and other problems associated with muscles and joints. Take time to adjust your car seat so that the back has full support, both in the upper area and in the lumbar portion.
  
• Injury: Some cases of UCS are the result of vehicle accidents and falls.
  
• Genetic Predisposition: In rare situations, some people are born with musculature that is more prone to UCS.

How to Know if You Have It

Chiropractic physicians use a number of different approaches for diagnosing the condition known as upper-crossed syndrome. For example, you might even notice some of the most obvious signs and symptoms before you head to the chiropractor's office for a full evaluation. What are those signs?

You might be suffering from UCS if your neck is in an almost constant "bent-forward" position, and your shoulders appear rounded when you view them in a mirror. This unusual, and quite unnatural, scenario can cause other warning signs like neck pain, upper-arm problems like tingling and numbness, headaches, varying levels of pain in the shoulders and in the back, generalized fatigue, pain in the jaw area, tightness in the chest, difficulty sitting to drive a car, read, or watch TV, trouble moving the shoulders and neck in the usual way, low-back discomfort or pain, rib pain, and more.

It's one thing to notice that you have one or more symptoms of UCS, but how does a licensed chiropractor make an official diagnosis? While there is no definitive list of symptoms the doctor will look for, the following five can be considered the "usual suspects" your chiropractor will be on the lookout for when you undergo an initial examination:

• Shoulder blades that stick out instead of resting flat in their natural position
  
• A spine that appears to curve in near the neck area
  
• Shoulders that are too elevated and are rounded and pushed forward
  
• A forward-leaning head
  
• A spine that tends to curve outwardly near the shoulders and upper-back area

How Chiropractors Treat Upper Crossed Syndrome

One of the hallmarks of UCS is that many of the body's joints become misaligned. When that happens, people experience varying degrees of pain, immobility, and trouble performing normal daily activities.

When your joints are out-of-kilter due to poor posture and muscles that are too tight, a chiropractor can perform a standard adjustment in order to realign joints and loosen tight muscles. What is the result? In most cases, your short, tense muscles will begin to relax almost immediately, and you'll also notice that your physical range of motion in the affected areas increases.

Get Preventive Treatment for UCS ASAP

Upper-crossed-syndrome is like many other physical conditions in that there's a much greater chance of successful treatment if the condition is caught in its early stages. That's another way of saying, "Get preventive treatment for UCS as soon as you suspect that you might have it."

At Delaware Integrative Healthcare, we take UCS seriously and have experience treating the condition in all its stages and varieties, and in people of all ages. Call any of our offices today and schedule a no-cost consultation with a chiropractic physician.

The good news is that UCS is highly preventable and treatable. Your chiropractor can show you how to make good posture a habit, which is just one of the many ways to both prevent and treat upper-crossed-syndrome. If you follow the exercise regimen given to you by a chiropractor after treatment, chances are good that you won't suffer from recurrent bouts of UCS in the future.

Take the first step toward the prevention and treatment of UCS today by contacting our office.